Community Library Visits and Book Borrowing

A repost from The Forest Hill Society (20 Oct 2015). they have done excellent work comparing Library.

Lending Figures and visitor numbers. The figures appear to bare out comments by the Friends of Manor House Library that Community Libraries become ‘Community Centres with a few books.’ The drop in book lending rates at community libraries is catastrophic. Book lending and literacy should be the meat and drink of a LIBRARY SERVICE?

Three trends emerge over time:1. Visitor numbers to community libraries have increased faster than other libraries in Lewisham.2. Book borrowing is on a general downward path.3. Decline in book borrowing has been far worse in community libraries.

Looking specifically at Forest Hill Library, the decline in borrowing has been least of all Lewisham libraries. Forest Hill has also seen the largest increase in visitors of all council run libraries (not including Deptford and Torridon Road which were not open in 2010).

Community libraries are almost certainly better than no library at all, and volunteers have worked hard to make these smaller libraries work, but based on the experience with existing community libraries over four years, transferring more libraries to Community management is likely to result in massive reductions in borrowing (core library services).

The Forest Hill Society opposes the community model as a method of providing services in Forest Hill Library and believe it will have a negative impact on children and adults in the local area.

2 Comments

The library cuts are another example of Lewisham Council relieving themselves of any kind of commitment to public provision. This is fast becoming an ideological imperative. Why shouldn’t I ask whether Mayor Bullock retains any principles at all when he appears before us claiming that his cuts are kinder and therefore more palatable. He and Lewisham Councillors are a perfect example of personal ambition trumping public service.

I’m not sure that’s entirely fair. Lewisham ran a series of engagement campaigns last year asking residents to identify which services they would prefer to be cut. It’s an extremely difficult question to answer and one to which I don’t think there’s any satisfactory reply.